SALT LAKE CITY >> When the Lakers settled in for their team film study at their hotel on Thursday afternoon, a player who has spent most of the season in the shadows, who was told before the season that he should expect to watch and not be seen, found himself in the spotlight.

Lakers coach Luke Walton zeroed in on the play of 19-year-old rookie Ivica Zubac the night before in a loss to Portland, when he recorded his second career double-double. In that performance, Zubac, known for his defense and a suitcase full of nifty post moves, attempted an eye-popping 15 shots.

Although he only made five of those attempts, Walton wanted to make an important point.

“I think that’s a good lesson for everyone to learn as far as you don’t need play calls for you to get opportunities to score the ball,” Walton said, “which everyone likes to do. You just gotta play hard and be ready to make plays when the ball comes your way.”

Zubac was setting hard screens and rolling hard to the basket with his hands ready to receive passes at the rim. No plays were called for Zubac to score. If shot attempts are a telling measure of how hard a big man is setting screens and rolling to the basket, it’s worth pointing out that Zubac attempted more shots on Wednesday than $64 million man Timofey Mozgov has in any game this season.

“I learned that when I was young,” Zubac said. “When you set a hard screen and roll hard, either you’re going to be open or somebody else is going to be open. That’s one of the first things I learned playing basketball. Wherever I go that thing’s really helpful.”

On Wednesday, only noted gunner Lou Williams (20) attempted more shots than Zubac.

The teenager is not only playing well, he’s leading by example.

“It’s one of the things we really like about Zu,” Walton said. “Whether he’s playing or not he’s got a smile on his face and he does what we ask him to. Plays hard and never complains.”

Praise has been heaped upon Zubac since he became a rotation regular in mid-January. Entering Friday, he had averaged 6.1 points and 5.3 rebounds in his previous seven games while playing nearly 15 minutes a night. It’s a pretty significant role for someone who Walton told not to expect any playing time this season.

“Right now where we’re at and the amount of bigs we have, use this year and get in the D-League,” Walton said he told Zubac. “And don’t get frustrated, just keep working on your game.”

The rookie had played in the top league in his native Croatia, and took Walton’s message as a personal challenge.

“That was really big motivation for me because I knew at some point in the season, something’s going to happen and I’m going to have to play,” Zubac said. “I was just preparing for that moment.”

Jose Calderon said he believed Zubac had a leg up on other teenagers coming into the NBA because of his professional experience overseas.

“Everything in the NBA is not about good or bad luck,” Calderon said. “It’s just about you’ve got to be able to be ready when your name is called. It could be because of a couple of injuries, it could be because the coach wants to try one thing out there and you’ve got to be ready to do it right away.”

Back to Black

With Julius Randle battling a viral infection, Walton made the surprising choice to slide reserve Tarik Black into his starting role.

“He does a great job of running the floor, setting hard screens,” Walton said. “He gets us extra possessions, offensive rebounding. Good finisher around the rim.”

Black last started a game on April 15, 2015, at the end of Byron Scott’s first season as the Lakers head coach.

“My main focus is going out there and doing what I do,” said Black, who has averaged 15.4 minutes in 37 Lakers’ appearances this season. “I think all of us have particular things that we do well and we just go out there and do our jobs.”

Bill Oram covers the Los Angeles Lakers for the Southern California News Group. He covered the Utah Jazz for the Salt Lake Tribune. He is the (usually) bearded guy in the background wearing a University of Montana hat.